Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review

It’s the sequel to the hit 2015 film; Jurassic World, and the fifth instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise and it’s very safe to say that it’s a franchise that should definitely be extinct by now.

The film begins with the main players from Jurassic World, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) moving on with their lives after the events from the first movie, before being brought together again by Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell); John Hammond’s former parter, and his aide Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) to return to Isla Nublar to rescue the Dinosaurs from the island’s now active volcano.

The first act of the film might seem a little familiar, that is because it plays out exactly how the first Jurassic World film began. We have Claire and Owen who are now no longer together being forced back into each other’s company to deal with some Dino related emergency. In fact the scene where Claire arrives to recruit Owen for the mission looks like it has been cut and pasted from the first Jurassic World instalment.

One of the saving graces of the film is the chemistry between Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. They are believable as a couple and they have some great comedic timing with one another especially in one particular scene where they try to recover blood from a sleeping T-Rex. However, it is starting to feel like Chris Pratt is playing the same character no matter what movie he is in.

The return of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to the franchise was another big let down. Goldblum was last seen in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park; the second instalment in the series, and his appearance was built up massively in the trailers for the film, however if you came hoping to see Goldblum back in the park fighting off the T-Rex, you will leave very unsatisfied as he is only in the film for around 3 minutes and a lot of his lines are repeated from his earlier appearances in the series, if just delivered a lot slower for dramatic effect.

Unlike past Jurassic instalments, there aren’t a lot of great set pieces. Aside from the obvious volcanic eruption; which happens a lot sooner in the film than you would like. The majority of the film takes place in a manor house on a large estate with our main characters confined to the house. It tries to give off a claustrophobic atmosphere having these dangerous creatures and our heroes in such a small environment but unfortunately it doesn’t have the desired effect.

(Photo: Universal Pictures)

The film is alright if you want to lose yourself in a film for a couple of hours but it in no way has the same magic the original Jurassic Park had, nor does it have the same sense of nostalgia Jurassic World had, no matter how much Jeff Goldblum you put in the movie. Even having the iconic Jurassic Park theme would’ve added some familiarity to the film but it doesn’t appear until the very end credits.

Overall, I left this film feeling very disappointed and made me long for the original movie. With a sixth instalment to the franchise already confirmed for 2021 with Pratt and Dallas-Howard returning, is it perhaps time to have Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neil) and Dr. Ellie Stattler (Laura Dern) return to team up with Claire and Owen and perhaps pay a visit to Isla Sorna last seen in 2001’s Jurassic Park 3? I know for me it would be a good way to end the franchise which I think it’s finally time for the series to do.